


I'm here.

by AngstyHxcker



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, OR IS IT, One Shot, Post series finale, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Root's alive, Sameen Shaw Has Feelings, or is she..., sort of... not really... I tried
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22221631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngstyHxcker/pseuds/AngstyHxcker
Summary: Shaw struggles with nightmares after the death of Root. One night she wakes up and realizes it was all just a bad dream... Or was it?-This will stomp on your heart and ruin everything you've ever loved. You've been warned.
Relationships: Root | Samantha Groves/Sameen Shaw
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	I'm here.

Ever since Root died, Shaw spent more time drinking coffee than sleeping. During the day, she enjoyed the company of the Machine. She had even taken to calling her Root most of the time. But at night, Shaw’s dreams were filled with reminders that her Root, the real Root, was gone forever. 

She wasn’t there when it happened. She didn’t see the life drain from Root’s face. But Harold’s account of that day's events was all her mind needed to create a nightly simulation of the worst moment of her life. 

Shaw tossed and turned in her sleep as she watched the car swerve to a stop. Suddenly, her perspective changed and she was in the passenger seat where Harold would have been. Root’s eyes were already drifting close. She was so pale and the small car was filled with the thick scent of blood.

“Root! Root!” She screamed and her throat was raw, her heart sank into the pit of her stomach. Shaw shook Root desperately hoping she would open her eyes and this would all be a bad dream.

“Shaw!” Root’s voice interrupted her pain. With a gasp, Shaw’s eye’s shot open.

“Root?” She gasped, sitting up and frantically grabbing the sides of Root’s face.

“I’m here, Shaw. I’m here.” Root comforted, gently placing her hands on Shaw’s shoulders. “You’re okay. I’m here.” Shaw’s hair was stuck to her face with beads of sweat. 

“Root… I thought you…” Her hands trailed down and pushed aside Root’s shirt. Shaw placed her hand on the healed scar where a bullet wound once was. “Oh thank god.” She exhaled, her heart rate slowly returning to normal. “I thought I lost you, Root.” Shaw reached out and put her hands on Root’s cheeks and kissed her deeply. Root returned the kiss with passion, but pulled back after a moment.

Shaw lingered, holding Root’s face and looking into her eyes. 

“I’m here.” Root repeated firmly.

“I know.” Shaw smiled softly, pulling away entirely from Root and returning to her spot in bed, closing her eyes again.

“I’m here.” Root said again. 

Shaw rolled over and opened her eyes. The bed beside her was empty. “Root?” She questioned.

“I’m here.” Root’s voice came from the bedside table where Shaw’s cellphone sat for the night.

“Fuck!” Shaw screamed, tears immediately clouding her vision as she grabbed her pillow and threw it at her phone, knocking over a lamp in the process.

“You were having a nightmare, Sweetie.” Root’s voice purred from under the pillow.

“You better hope to god this is a simulation or I swear to god, Samaritan will have nothing on me. You are not Root!” Shaw snapped.

“Sam, I thought we got past that.” ~~The Machine’s~~ Root’s voice took on a tone of sadness that almost made her feel bad for snapping at her.

“Stop talking to me.” When the Machine didn’t protest, Shaw was acutely aware of the sliver of Root’s personality the Machine failed to emulate. Root would never give up.

With no fight left in her, Shaw let herself fall back into bed. Her pillow was still laying on the floor, but she didn’t care to get it. 

“Sameen, it’s me. You’re okay. I’m here.” Root’s voice echoed out from behind the pillow.

“I thought I told you to-“ Shaw snapped before being interrupted by another voice. Her own. 

“Root!?” She heard herself say. Her voice sounded frantic and was fractured with panting and gasps. In addition to the voices, she could hear the rustling of blankets.  
“Shhh you’re okay, Sam. This is real. I’m real. You’re real.” Root’s voice said calmly. “How can I know that’s true? How can I believe you?” Shaw heard herself reply as memories of that almost forgotten night flooded back.

“You can’t.” Root answered simply and Shaw was shocked by her blunt reply for a second time. “There’s a Swedish philosopher who has a theory that our lives are all a computer simulation. So even before Samaritan got their hands on you, there was a chance your life was a simulation.”

“Root, you’re not exactly helping.” Shaw's voice retorted dryly. 

“I’m not finished yet.” Shaw could hear the smirk in Root’s voice. “If everything you’ve experienced is a simulation, it still matters. It’s still real to you. No one will ever know if anything is really real. But it still feels real when it’s happening. You still remember it. It still impacts you. I’d like to think I’m pretty damn real, but even if I’m not, it feels like I’m here right now. And you’re here right now. So let's just enjoy being here. Right now. Together. Real or not.”

There was a faint click and Shaw knew the recording was over. “Thank you.” Shaw didn’t wipe the tears from her cheeks she didn’t hide the strain from her voice. She couldn’t even be mad that the Machine had recorded their conversations. Right now, she just needed Root in any form. And that was okay. 

“Root?” Shaw asked meekly, pulling the pillow from Root’s side of the bed, over to hers instead of retrieving her own. She buried her face in the distant scent of Root. “Just talk to me.”

“Absolutely.”

**Author's Note:**

> Lol I’m sorry.
> 
> I know I toyed with your emotions. I hope you’re okay. I hope you enjoyed the feels. Thank you for reading.


End file.
